Taking a leaf from @TheAvengerButton I was wondering what your opinions are on the Slaves of The Republic story arc from Season Four.

I only watched them for the first time on the season four blu-ray but think they are among my favourite episodes to date. However I was shocked reading the behind the scenes article on wookieepedia which claims the middle episode of the arc was the second least watched episode of the series.

How can this be? Was it aired at an inconvenient time and date for the majority? Or did most people think it just plain sucked?

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

I liked the Slaves of the Republic arc, its one of the best of the series even if it started slow in the first episode. It explored some dark themes with the Jedi being slaves themselves. The Zygarrian Queen was also one of the grayest shaded villains thus far. The only thing I wanted more from it was exploration about how Rex who tagged along felt about slavery.

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

Just because you hate him

I do because he is painful to watch in it.
Anakin has been fun like in the episode Senate Spy.

I liked the Slaves of the Republic arc, its one of the best of the series even if it started slow in the first episode. It explored some dark themes with the Jedi being slaves themselves. The Zygarrian Queen was also one of the grayest shaded villains thus far. The only thing I wanted more from it was exploration about how Rex who tagged along felt about slavery.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

I liked the Slaves of the Republic arc, its one of the best of the series even if it started slow in the first episode. It explored some dark themes with the Jedi being slaves themselves. The Zygarrian Queen was also one of the grayest shaded villains thus far. The only thing I wanted more from it was exploration about how Rex who tagged along felt about slavery.

Did you expect a touch upon from the Slick situation from Season One?!

That is why the Umbara arc should have been cut and given one more episode to this arc maybe so this issue can be re-explored. And building up the torture on Kadavo.

However I was shocked reading the behind the scenes article on wookieepedia which claims the middle episode of the arc was the second least watched episode of the series.

How can this be? Was it aired at an inconvenient time and date for the majority? Or did most people think it just plain sucked?

This arc is also amongst my most favorite. There were vicious rumors that Ahsoka was going to be dressed in some sort of "jailbait" princess costume (below) from the comic version and thus people did not allow their young children to watch.

However I was shocked reading the behind the scenes article on wookieepedia which claims the middle episode of the arc was the second least watched episode of the series.

How can this be? Was it aired at an inconvenient time and date for the majority? Or did most people think it just plain sucked?

This arc is also amongst my most favorite. There were vicious rumors that Ahsoka was going to be dressed in some sort of "jailbait" princess costume (below) from the comic version and thus people did not allow their young children to watch.

To be fair, in CGI I would not like to see Ahsoka having herself in even shorter clothes than she did. The thing in the comic was almost a Slave Leia in TCW form.

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

Just because you hate him

I do because he is painful to watch in it.
Anakin has been fun like in the episode Senate Spy.

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

Just because you hate him

I do because he is painful to watch in it.
Anakin has been fun like in the episode Senate Spy.

he has been fun in every episode

No, he hasn't been. Ever since Season Two ended he has become very annoying. At this point I would take anything Ahsoka does to Anakin's actions and overreactions.

I enjoyed the slavers arc a lot more than Umbara but it needed to do several things to make itself better.

I am not sure why that episode had the least. Maybe depends on what was else on at that night when it aired.
Something that really killed the mood of the arc was the big break in between the episodes.

For me the way Anakin was done killed the episode "Slaves of the Republic" for me. Anakin was really painful to watch in this arc.

And there were other things.

1. Have a better payoff at the end
2. Rescue ALL the slaves of Kiros, not 15 people3. Have the Separatist Council Leader cameos like in the comic
4. Do not reveal the fact that the slaves are not in Kiros during the standoff with D'Nar
5. Take advantage of the possibilies with the Slaver aspect
6. Decide who's arc is this - Ahsoka or Anakin
7. And focus on one of them

Just because you hate him

I do because he is painful to watch in it.
Anakin has been fun like in the episode Senate Spy.

he has been fun in every episode

No, he hasn't been. Ever since Season Two ended he has become very annoying. At this point I would take anything Ahsoka does to Anakin's actions and overreactions.

I liked the Slaves of the Republic arc, its one of the best of the series even if it started slow in the first episode. It explored some dark themes with the Jedi being slaves themselves. The Zygarrian Queen was also one of the grayest shaded villains thus far. The only thing I wanted more from it was exploration about how Rex who tagged along felt about slavery.

I liked the Slaves of the Republic arc, its one of the best of the series even if it started slow in the first episode. It explored some dark themes with the Jedi being slaves themselves. The Zygarrian Queen was also one of the grayest shaded villains thus far. The only thing I wanted more from it was exploration about how Rex who tagged along felt about slavery.

Did you expect a touch upon from the Slick situation from Season One?!

That is why the Umbara arc should have been cut and given one more episode to this arc maybe so this issue can be re-explored. And building up the torture on Kadavo.

After all the story in the comic was six issues.

Honestly with everything Rex had just gone through in Umbara in that all fresh on his mind it would have worked well to touch on this in Slaves of the Republic. Rex had been all like "What am I really doing fighting this war? Who am I? What is the point of all this?" Umbara's four parts work for this and did not need to be cut to fit anything in Slave of the Republic. It would have been a simple subplot. If anything "Kidnapped" should have been shoved into a news reel.

Honestly with everything Rex had just gone through in Umbara in that all fresh on his mind it would have worked well to touch on this in Slaves of the Republic. Rex had been all like "What am I really doing fighting this war? Who am I? What is the point of all this?" Umbara's four parts work for this and did not need to be cut to fit anything in Slave of the Republic. It would have been a simple subplot. If anything "Kidnapped" should have been shoved into a news reel.

Trust me.

Umbara would have worked as a trilogy better. Four parts was too much.

Then have one extra episode to get us reminded of the overdone issues in the Umbara arc but relate them to the people of Kiros.

Did you expect a touch upon from the Slick situation from Season One?!

That is why the Umbara arc should have been cut and given one more episode to this arc maybe so this issue can be re-explored. And building up the torture on Kadavo.

After all the story in the comic was six issues.

Honestly with everything Rex had just gone through in Umbara in that all fresh on his mind it would have worked well to touch on this in Slaves of the Republic. Rex had been all like "What am I really doing fighting this war? Who am I? What is the point of all this?" Umbara's four parts work for this and did not need to be cut to fit anything in Slave of the Republic. It would have been a simple subplot. If anything "Kidnapped" should have been shoved into a news reel.[/quote]

Umbara was as long as it needed to be, IMO. Compared to the gratuitously long Water War trilogy, the quadrilogy was packed with relevant drama and exploration of various themes.

This lack of any link or allusion between different arcs is particularly noticeable in contrast to S5, where Hondo's appearance in all the arcs is helping to tie them together. Character development for Rex, by virtue of the character being present in the Slaves and Hardeen arcs, would have been an ideal link between the arcs, particularly as it would have been very relevant to the former.

But that's slightly off-topic. While I wouldn't have minded seeing Kidnapped cut down to a newsreel so as to add internal CIS politics and Rex drama to the mix, the Slaves arc was good. Queen Miraj Scintel was a great antagonist with a clear motivation beyond dog-kicking. Anakin's character exploration was well handled, and likewise for Obi-Wan, for whom the constant beatdowns contributed to his characterisation.

It seems like they couldn't decide for an exact number; in the first episode, I figured there was probably around max a few thousand colonists so 50,000 as mentioned in the second episode felt like quite a stretch (unless the colony was that big) and then there's around 20 to 30 colonists in the last episode. It would have helped a lot if some dialogue in the last one spoke of many colonists dieing during their enslavement, being sold and maybe being held in other facilities.

Still, I really like this arc & plot and think it is rather well done and pulled off quite well being an adaption of a comic. I like the catlike design of the Zygerrians (Filoni apparently based their design of jackals but I am more reminded of cats when I see them), the queen was an interesting central antagonist and the warden was a good 'love to hate' villain; he got a great and well deserved death courtesy of Rex. The assault on the slave facility was a satisfying finale and the story was wrapped up nicely.

I will never agree on Umbara being what it was.
Umbara was S4's Onderon...

Agreed that there was a really lack of connection and there was a lot of room for such connection. Not much was happening in the Hardeen arc in the first place.

While I wouldn't have minded seeing Kidnapped cut down to a newsreel so as to add internal CIS politics and Rex drama to the mix, the Slaves arc was good.

Queen Miraj was awesome and it would have been even more awesome if her connection to the Separatist Council was mentioned and not ignored.
And some connections to the other members of the CIS would have been awesome during the auction. LIKE IN THE COMIC.

It seems to me like the show is changing formats and going from the snap shot, serial style we are used to, to a more continous plot. Even "A Friend in Need" was referenced this season. I don't need to say it again that I agree Umbara was the perfect length and all four parts were needed to create enough drama to push Rex to where he ended up midway through Carnage.

The Slaves of the Republic arc even with a weak first part still turned out to be one of the strongest. I maintain Umbara, Slaves, and Rako Hardeen together are some of the best stuff TCW has to offer.

[This arc is also amongst my most favorite. There were vicious rumors that Ahsoka was going to be dressed in some sort of "jailbait" princess costume from the comic version and thus people did not allow their young children to watch.

Force-choking and slicing and dicing Zygerrians is fine but a bit of flesh makes people uneasy? I'm not condoning that picture as I think it is rather inappropriate but seeing lightsabers used on living beings as Anakin did is quite rare in TCW. Good observation though, Rumblewagon.

I will never agree on Umbara being what it was.
Umbara was S4's Onderon...

Agreed that there was a really lack of connection and there was a lot of room for such connection. Not much was happening in the Hardeen arc in the first place.

While I wouldn't have minded seeing Kidnapped cut down to a newsreel so as to add internal CIS politics and Rex drama to the mix, the Slaves arc was good.

Queen Miraj was awesome and it would have been even more awesome if her connection to the Separatist Council was mentioned and not ignored.
And some connections to the other members of the CIS would have been awesome during the auction. LIKE IN THE COMIC.

Darts D'Nar vs Kenobi was a highlight for me in Season Four.

I really like the Queen, was kind of sad that another interesting character was killed off. I agree that it would have been nice to see more of her connection with the Seperatists (was nice to see Muuns in the arena and marketplace) but as I haven't read the comic I have nothing to compare it with.

I watched the Slaves of the Republic bonus feature on the disc, found the insights from the crew really quite interesting. It seems the story changed at the end from it's comic book version in which there is a payoff for Kenobi's suffering in the form of him understanding Anakin a little better. I would have been happy to see that ending as opposed to colonists seeing the error of their pacifist ways and joining the Republic. I think we all understand from watching TCW that pacifism = bad.

On a related note, I've seen Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy in behind the scenes features in season 1 and TCW movie. It always seems to me that Gilroy is always being slightly mocked by the others. Anyone else catch that? Strange because when I look at his writing credits for the show, he is responsible for some stand out episodes.